Real-life Stories Make The Concept Of Wholesome Development…well, Real!

15Feb2010

Isn’t it true that there is nothing like real life stories that inspire andremind us that it is ‘possible’? Think of Neil Armstrong, Nelson Mandela, orthe Beatles, or…..the list is endless!

Similarly, real-life stories are abound of people who can easily be held upas examples of *whole* individuals. People who have successfully demonstratedthat if you develop and promote the spiritual, emotional, intellectual andsocial aspects of your personality, success will follow, naturally!

We don’t even need to look on the global stage or to the celluloid, forinspiration, for examples closer to us exist in plenty. Think Narayan Murthy,Ratan Tata, Amjad Ali Khan, Vishwanathan Anand, Shabana Azmi…..

For a clearer picture, let us delve deeper into an example. With just adream, a daring vision and literally no money, Infosys was born. In Mr. NarayanMurthy’s words, “We were seven people, were short on money (and whatever littlethey had were the savings his wife, Sudha, had for a rainy day!), but were longon hope.”1 Clearly, speaks volumes about a man who believed inhimself and has become the epitome of the fact that honesty, transparency, andmoral integrity are not at variance with business acumen.

Mr. Murthy is a shining example of success coupled with humility and thereason we say it arises from a simple reply he made to a question, once asked.Tell us about your charitable work and Mr. Murthy said only this, “These aretopics that are best not discussed. They’re best done.”2 We rest ourcase!

Even in the current generation, examples are aplenty of how easy it is toadopt a “wholesome” approach to parenting children and the difference it canmake to their lives. Take the example of budding actor Darsheel Safary, ofTaare Zameen Par fame. Surely, you remember his powerhouse perstrikeance in themovie that moved everybody to tears, young and old alike. Mind you, he is nogenius but what probably helped him discover his passion and hone his talent foracting was a paradigm shift in attitude that encouraged creative independence,not just guidance to excel as a young student…. and boy did he come out withflying colors! A “wholesome” development approach requires that, as a parent,we are not only focused on helping or guiding our children excel academicallybut also lend a hand while they discover their passion and aid them to build aninner confidence that makes them complete adults of tomorrow. In Darsheel’scase, his perstrikeance in the movie was fuelled by creative independenceprovided by his parents, and their attitude to ensure that he created a finebalance between his education and passion.

Though these examples serve well for inspiration, we too can have and createour own success stories for our child. It begins with us as parents who need toembrace this journey of wholesome development. Are you ready tobegin?

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